Eryngium is awesome

If you are looking for something hardy and showy to plant, eryngium is a pretty good bet. It's also known as sea holly, and there are many varieties.
I wish I could tell you what variety this one is. It grows to about 4 feet high and blooms profusely. The flower above is from mid-June. The one below is from yesterday. The flowers are really fascinating to passers-by and to bees.
The leaves and flowers are also quite spiny, so give the plant a good-sized space where it can strut its stuff without being in the way. I trim it back hard in the fall. Supposedly you should divide it in the spring. I will need to do that next year.

A new poodle chapter

About three years ago, my cousin decided to get a dog. He wanted a dog that could ride along with him in his truck as he made service calls for his business. The dog needed to be a poodle because of his allergies. He found a breeder with puppies who talked him into taking the mom instead. That was Lucy.

But Lucy was not a very outgoing dog – super sweet but shy, too – and really, the job didn't lend itself to ride-alongs like my cousin hoped. Lucy ended up staying home alone a lot. So my cousin got Jackson to keep her company.
I met Jackson when he was about 4 months old. We had a little meetup at the dog park.

Such a cute little guy! And good for Lucy, who clearly relished his company.
Fast forward to today.

My cousin recognized that he was too busy to give Lucy and Jackson the attention they need. He loves the dogs, but could hardly spend time with them. I had told him more than a year ago that when Sophie died, I would be happy to take them. So today they became mine.
I thought I would wait longer, but it's been very hard having an empty house, and I knew these two would be happy here. They're good dogs.

Thank you

Thanks to everyone who left such kind comments about Sophie. She really was a special dog.

Sophie came to me when she was two months old and I was living in South Dakota. My mom found her for me in Chicago after a long and careful search and drove her out. (That's Mom with Sophie at right.) Working nights, I had a lot of free daytime to devote to the training and exercise of my goofy little girl, and even after we moved to Colorado, I continued with advanced training, both voice commands and hand signals.

I think good genetics and abundant exercise helped her stay healthy as long as she did. The training and her sweet nature meant she was welcomed everywhere and admired even by people who don't like dogs. When her hearing started to go, she still could follow hand commands, and she knew never to cross the street without waiting for me to give the OK.

When she was three, I adopted another poodle, a 5-year-old named Doogie (that's the name he came with). He was an awesome dog, too. Twice her size and a big love-sponge. Sophie used him as a pillow, and taught him the Good Dog rules by example. His later diagnosis of heart disease meant two years of constant vet visits, myriad medications and a long, slow decline. Sophie was with him when he died in his sleep. She knew he wasn't coming back. She seemed happy to be an only dog again, so I didn't adopt another.

After my experience with Doogie, I hoped that when Sophie went, it would be fast. And it was. On Monday we were getting ready to go for a walk when she had a massive seizure and didn't come out of it. The Sergeant and I rushed her to the vet but nothing could stop whatever was happening in her brain. So I let her go.

It was a hard decision and an easy one. By that point, her life had already ended. Her heart couldn't take any more drugs and she'd likely suffered severe brain damage.

She lived a good, long life, longer than most. So while it was horrible to lose her that way, I can console myself that it wasn't before her time and that (hopefully) she lost awareness very quickly. She went from fine to gone in 20 minutes.

If there is a doggie heaven, I am sure Doogie was there to welcome her.